Malaysian restaurants owners not sincere in hiring locals

GEORGE TOWN - A man claiming to have 30 years of experience working in restaurants has alleged that the recruitment campaign by Muslim restaurants to hire locals was merely a “show” to cover up their preference for foreign workers.

Mohamed Ali Abdul Razak, 47, alleged that the Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners’ Association (Presma), by citing poor response from locals for its job offers, could now continue running businesses with existing foreign workers as waiters, cooks and cashiers.

Mohamed Ali claimed Presma members were not sincere in wanting to recruit locals and that their ultimate intention was to keep foreign workers because their wages were lower.

He also said the members, via the media, portrayed themselves as being on the receiving end, The Star reports.

“But in actual fact, many locals, including me, were turned away. Right from the beginning, they were not interested in hiring us.

“By citing poor response to their job offers, Presma can now pressure the authorities to allow them to recruit more foreigners,” said Mohamed Ali, who lodged a police report against Presma at the Bukit Mertajam police station on March 29.

In February, the paper reported that only 90 enquiries were received for the 45,000 vacancies in over 3,000 nasi kandar and Indian restaurants.

Presma and the Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners’ Association, which offered attractive salaries and perks, were reportedly shocked by the poor response.

Mohamed Ali, who has 10 children and two wives, said he had been jobless for the past 19 months.

“I was turned away despite numerous attempts to get a job as a restaurant supervisor with a pay of between RM2,000 and RM2,500 per month,” he said.

In an immediate response, Presma president Noorul Hassan Saul Hameed said the allegation was baseless and that response from locals to the open interviews had been extremely poor. (ANI)